| The loss by staff at Her Majesty's Revenue & | | | | be reimbursed their losses, but those who |
| Customs of two CDs that contain sensitive | | | | were affected will have suffered a great deal |
| information about 25million UK residents is | | | | of inconvenience and worry, and their |
| only the latest in a series of high-profile | | | | confidence in using their cards online or on |
| scare stories that highlight the need to | | | | the phone may well be shattered. |
| protect our personal and financial | | | | |
| information, and prevent us becoming the | | | | The combination of the tax office fiasco and |
| unwitting victims of identity fraud. | | | | the calculated infiltration of Tesco has |
| | | | prompted a lot of opinion from fraud experts |
| In 2006 an estimated 178,000 people in | | | | about the seriousness of these security |
| Britain were affected by identity fraud which | | | | breaches. Some, say the information lost by |
| cost the country close to £1.7billion. | | | | the government would be of little use to |
| There is a thriving illegal market in stolen | | | | potential fraudsters, but others say there is |
| identities where the price of obtaining | | | | enough information there for criminals to |
| someone's date of birth, credit card details | | | | start making significant inroads into |
| and other sensitive information can be as | | | | stealing numerous people's identities. |
| little as £7. | | | | |
| | | | But, what can you do to minimise the risk? It |
| Of course, when the government potentially | | | | has always been important to compare credit |
| gives away our personal information there is | | | | cards and the benefits that they offer when |
| little we can do. And, it's not just | | | | shopping around for a new card, but now a |
| government incompetence that poses a risk; | | | | growing number of credit card deals include |
| fraudsters infiltrating commercial | | | | online fraud protection as part of the |
| organisations and stealing customer's details | | | | package. For those worried by recent events |
| is also a real threat, and one that has | | | | and who do a great deal of online shopping |
| reared its ugly head recently. | | | | this should be considered an essential |
| | | | benefit. As well as refunding you in case of |
| A member of staff at the Cardiff call centre | | | | loss, you will also have peace of mind. |
| of Tesco Direct - the online & catalogue shop | | | | |
| for superstore giants Tesco - was arrested | | | | Although there is no way to stop government |
| after stealing shopper's debit and credit | | | | incompetence or commercial fraud, if you |
| card details. Working in the telephone orders | | | | possess UK credit cards that offer fraud |
| department the fraudster passed on the | | | | protection at least you won't be out of |
| customer's personal and credit card details | | | | pocket in the long run should the worst ever |
| to accomplices in London who then used them | | | | happen. |
| to buy goods. Of course, Tesco customers will | | | | |